• Long lines for fresh fish at 168 in San Gabriel or the 99 Ranch Supermarket.

On Friday night we enter the Year of the Horse. That’s Ma, in Chinese.

Here’s what people born in the Year of the Horse are all about, according to chinahighlights.com:

“People born in the year of the horse are extremely animated, active and energetic. Horses love to be in a crowd, and they can usually be seen in such occasions as concerts, theaters, meetings, sporting occasions, and parties. With a deft sense of humor, horses are masters of repartee. They love to take center stage and delight audiences everywhere.”

Well, that’s promising.

There’s more I guess. But I’ll leave the astrology to the experts.

The only other thing I really know about Chinese culture is the food. I love Chinese food — all kinds.

Here’s a couple of local restaurants (mostly dim sum houses) you might want to try if you get into the mood for Chinese food over the next few days. They are in no particular order, so don’t read anything into the list. Here goes:

• House of Louie, Grand Avenue, West Covina. Nice place for breakfast, lunch or dinner. House of Louie serves a fairly limited dim sum menu, but it’s always hot and seems to be fresh. Bonus: They have sriracha.

• CBS Seafood, Spring Street, Los Angeles. More dim sum. Even though it has a “B” from the county Health Department, this place gets packed and crazy on Saturday mornings. It’s kind of dirty but the dim sum — especially the shumai — is really good. Bonus: You will leave full and still have money left over for Alka Seltzer or Tums.

• Ocean Seafood, North Hill Street, Los Angeles. This place is a little more pricey, but there seems to be a wider assortment of dishes. Parking can be a problem. It’s upstairs and a bit fancier than CBS.

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• Empress Harbor, North Atlantic Avenue, Monterey Park. Once you park in the lot and find the passage way to the front door on the third floor of this shopping complex at Atlantic and Garvey you will say to yourself, ahhh I understand the fuss about dim sum. This is a great restaurant for a lunch meeting. Look for me there sometime.

• Go China, North Lake Avenue, Pasadena. I know, I know, no letter grades at Pasadena eateries means you are taking a health risk. But this restaurant, which is a traditional Chinese take-out place, scored 100 at its last inspection in Dec. 2012. The restaurant is clean, the food is always cooked to order, it’s delicious, friendly and inexpensive. I usually go for the Orange Chicken.

Anyway, here’s to a prosperous year of the Horse. Gong Xi Fa Cai.

Frank C. Girardot, editor of the Pasadena Star-News, will be speaking Thursday evening at the South Pasadena Public Library Community Room, 1115 El Centro Street, South Pasadena. Admission is free. For more information visit: http://southpasadenaca.gov/library